A touch screen is an electronic visual display that the user can control through simple or multi-touch gestures by touching the screen with one or more fingers. The user uses the touch screen to react to what is displayed and/or to control how it is displayed. Known single touch gestures include: (i) rotating knobs; (ii) swiping the screen to activate a switch; and (iii) touch screen keyboards. Known multi-touch gestures include: (i) selecting a range of a line; (ii) connecting objects; and (iii) a “tap-click” gesture to make a selection while maintaining location with another finger.
Touch sensitive technologies have revolutionized how users (currently usually human users, see Definitions sub-section of the DETAILED DESCRIPTION section, below) interact with information on touch screen devices. This has led to the design of many input gestures which are more natural for interaction with images or web content than manipulation using a traditional indirect pointing device such as a mouse. Examples include: (i) swiping; (ii) direct manipulation of graphical objects; and (iii) press and pinch-zoom. Other solutions to the general problem interacting with information on touch screen devices include methods that facilitate textual input by sliding a finger over a virtual representation of a keyboard.
Published US patent application 2012/0092267 (“Haug”) states as follows: “A processor-implemented data input module may adjust an input data value for the data input field at a granularity based on the user input contact point and at a rate based on an angular velocity of movement within the concentric circular user interface (UI). The circular UI is designed to be ergonomically efficient such that the need for multiple finger or hand movements and clicks or taps is minimized. For example, if the user initially touches an inner circle of the UI to adjust input data values coarsely (i.e. with a larger granularity), the user need only to slide his finger over to the outer circle when finer control over input data value selection is desired.”